That was \u2013 mostly \u2013 by design, as it\u2019s my intention to do a full set of reviews of the entire maxi-series, and to get things started I simply wanted to ensure that everyone was up to speed on the setting, basic plot, and the dramatis person\u00e6.<\/em>Of course, I probably should have made my intentions clear from the start.
So, as we move on to the next issue \u2013 and on to each subsequent issue \u2013 I will provide a little more in the way of critical commentary on the contents.
With that said, let\u2019s move on to the second issue, with a cover date of June, 1983:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, \u201cCat and Mouse\u201d Herb: And it\u2019s not as though she\u2019s disappeared off the face of the Earth\u2026or is it\u2026? (Note the reference to yellow, which is another indication of an initial coloring error.) Some Thoughts:<\/strong> The Art:<\/strong> In any case, that brings us to the end of this installment. Join us next time, when Dark Opal weaves a tangled web, Amy has some \u2018splaining to do \u2013 as do Herb and Marion \u2013 and we learn a little more about Granch (whom I think should have been named \u201cKraa-aaack!\u201d as that\u2019s the sound you most often hear when Granch is around.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #3<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #4<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #5<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #6<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #6.5<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #7<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #8<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #9<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #10<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #11<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Written by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn
Cover by Ed Hannigan and Ernie Col\u00f3n
Art by Ernie Col\u00f3n
Edited by Karen Berger<\/em>
<\/em>When we left off, young Amy Winston had decided to find out for sure whether she had merely dreamed her adventure on Gemworld, or if it had really happened, so, following the advice given to her by the Witch-Mother Citrina, had used her birthstone pendant to open a portal back to that magical world. Unfortunately, in the shadowy halls of Castle Amethyst, danger awaits in the form of a knife-wielding man.
His thought balloons inform us that there is a spy in Castle Amethyst who advised him that, should the Princess return to Gemworld, it would be to this very location. We also learn that the stranger is son of the evil Dark Opal.
Taking Amethyst by surprise, the red-clad stranger separates her from her gemstone and takes her into his custody, leading her to the throne room. We learn that the man\u2019s name is Carnelian. With a knife to Amethyst\u2019s throat, he forces Citrina to use her powers to prevent any would-be rescuer from following her, and he absconds with the helpless Amethyst.
It\u2019s worth noting here that in the first issue, Citrina had appeared in green robes, but here, and in all subsequent issues, she appears in yellow robes. Given that she takes her name from the gemstone citrine, which is yellow, one has to assume that first issue went to press with a coloring error.
Due to the strange temporal relationship between the two worlds, back on Earth, considerably more time has passed, and Herb and Marion are horrified to discover that Amy is gone once more. Even stranger, this time Taffy, the family dog, is also missing.
This is where young Jon encountered a problem with willingly suspending his disbelief. I was \u2013 and still am \u2013 okay with the more fantastical elements of the story. Magic? I have no problem. Bring it on. A strange world where time moves differently \u2013 and inconsistently \u2013 from the way it moves on Earth? Makes sense.
Hell, even the more whimsical elements \u2013 and I\u2019ll have more to say about the elements of whimsy in subsequent reviews \u2013 such as Gemworld\u2019s anthropomorphized flora and fauna, were okay with me. I mean, it\u2019s a magical world, so why wouldn\u2019t<\/em> the trees have faces?
But then there\u2019s the dog. Not a magic dog, just a dog. Your average Golden Retriever.
See, when Marion instructed Taffy to watch over a rattled Amy after her return from Gemworld, the dog took it to heart, and, sensing danger, followed Amy through the portal to Gemworld.
Unfortunately, she got lost along the way, and was stuck between dimensions.
While recouping her power after acquiescing to Carnelian\u2019s demands, Citrina hears the sound of Taffy wailing between dimensions, and uses what power she has to open a portal to reveal the source of the sound.
Sensing Taffy\u2019s connection to Amethyst, Citrina instructs her to go off in search of her mistress \u2013 as the rest of those loyal to Amethyst remain unable to pursue until Citrina regains enough power to release them \u2013 and uses what little power she has to bestow a charm of good fortune on the loyal dog.
Okay, sure, there are always these stories about family pets that do remarkable things, but even as a kid, I kind of rolled my eyes about these kind of narrative excesses, as my own experience with dogs made it seem more likely that Taffy would just go off and romp around in some mud and briar patches, then eventually return to the castle, having totally forgotten about Amethyst, when she got hungry.
But that\u2019s just me. Anyway, Taffy charges off in search of Amethyst.
Amethyst, meanwhile, tied up on the strange mechanical cat creature that Carnelian rides, learns that Carnelian, of all the inhabitants of Gemworld, is the only person around who has no magical abilities whatsoever, and is forced to rely on mechanical devices.
She also learns that Carnelian is very grabby.<\/em> With no Granch to save her this time, Amethyst instead lucks out in the form of an attack by one of Gemworld\u2019s many dangerous native creatures, which reminds Carnelian that he needs to keep his mind on business, not on getting busy.
Taffy is also dealing with some dangerous predators, as she finds herself surrounded by a pack of large, feral dog-like creatures. She challenges the pack leader, and \u2013 through pluck and determination, or through Citrina\u2019s charm, or some combination \u2013 comes out on top, because of course she does. Why wouldn\u2019t a smaller, domesticated animal win in a fight with a stronger wild animal?
Elsewhere, Citrina is finally able to free Amethyst\u2019s faithful rescuers, and Herb and Marion are calling the police to search for their missing daughter. Herb is trying to calm his wife, but in the process of doing so, we learn that the Winston\u2019s may know more about their daughter than they\u2019ve let on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marion: Oh, Herb \u2013 you don\u2019t think that she\u2019s<\/strong><\/em> come back and taken Amy away\u2026?
Herb: I don\u2019t know what <\/strong>I think\u2026I\u2019m not sure the woman in yellow<\/strong> even existed \u2013 except in our own minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Fortress Opal we find Dark Opal preparing for company, the strange and, per Sardonyx, unpredictable<\/em> Emissaries of Varn<\/strong>, who have brought a contract with them, one which Opal requires Sardonyx to seal with his blood. We don\u2019t know what Opal is getting out of the bargain, but given that it\u2019s Opal, it probably doesn\u2019t involve sunshine, kittens, and rainbow. Not in a good<\/strong> way, at least.
Not to jump ahead, but I think we\u2019d have to refer to this scene as Chekhov\u2019s Sardonyx<\/a>.
As for Opal\u2019s son, the Red Prince, he has arrived at his destination and sends a signal to the soldiers waiting to escort him and his prize to Fortress Opal, and, presumably, to the praise and approval that Carnelian so desperately craves from his father.
Of course, while they\u2019re waiting, Carnelian has some ideas as to how to pass the time.
Well, really just the one<\/em> idea.
By which I mean rape.
Amethyst has the presence of mind to get him to untie her wrists \u2013 after all, by this time she\u2019s kind of an old pro at almost getting raped \u2013 and once again she\u2019s saved in the nick of time\u2026by Taffy!
Amethyst manages to get hold of her gemstone, but still being a novice, is no match for Carnelian\u2019s robot cat thing, and she\u2019ll be in even more trouble when the soldiers arrive. Fortunately, Taffy has a Plan B, in the form of the pack she now runs, and following her orders they attack the soldiers.
Citrina and her retinue arrive in time to force Carnelian to beat a hasty retreat, after Amethyst throws a magic match into his cat\u2019s gas tank.
It\u2019s worth noting that after Amethyst blows up his cat, Carnelian busts out a gun and tries to pop a cap in Amethyst\u2019s ass, which raises the question, \u201cWhere does he get these wonderful toys?\u201d
After Carnelian returns to Fortress Opal in shame \u2013 and gets whacked upside the head for his troubles \u2013 Dark Opal declares that it\u2019s time he takes matters into his own (blue, striped) hands, cryptically declaring that Citrina herself will help him\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a kid, the overall reliance on the threat of rape in these stories didn\u2019t really stand out for me or detract from the story. From my perspective, it just made sense. Amethyst was beautiful, and the ogres from the last issue and Carnelian from this issue were evil. Of course they would try to do bad things, and of course I viewed rape as a bad thing. But compared to murdering people, seizing control of an entire world and enslaving its population\u2026well, I\u2019m not really comparing the things. Bad is bad, after all. But it just didn\u2019t occur to me that there were depths to which these creeps wouldn\u2019t sink, and my view of narrative structure wasn\u2019t really sophisticated enough enough to find the use of rape problematic in that sense.
I suppose also I had the sense that there was no chance of Amethyst actually getting raped. I knew that she would either be saved or find a way to safe herself.
There are many in the contemporary comics community who object to the overuse or rape \u2013 particularly when it\u2019s used as a retroactive backstory to add a \u201cdepth\u201d to a female character \u2013 and I can\u2019t really object to their objections, particularly given that I largely agree with them. From my current perspective, I do understand why it\u2019s problematic as a story element, but while I\u2019m not going to argue in defense of that choice on the part of the storytellers, or the editor, I still can\u2019t quite bring myself to really let it detract from the overall story.
For what it\u2019s worth, this was the last issue to contain such a scene.
One complaint I do have, though, is that the rape attempt scenes could have served as a catalyst for some other storytelling options, which point to an area in which, as a whole, Amethyst kind of falls short.
I\u2019m thinking in terms of the approach to narrative that was taken by Joss Whedon<\/strong> and company on Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/em>, in which, during the high school years at least, things like demons and vampires and magic were used as metaphors for the fears, pressures, and anxieties of growing up.
This is a thematic element that the set-up of Amethyst was uniquely positioned to pursue, particularly given the duality of Amy\/Amethyst, who is forced to \u2013 literally \u2013 grow up instantly<\/em>, but who also has the option of returning to childhood at a moment\u2019s notice.
Or does she? Can she ever go back to being Amy Winston, ordinary teen?
We see some of that as the story progresses, but it\u2019s explored only to a very shallow extent, and, looking at it now, I wish there had been more of an exploration of the theme of growing up too fast, particularly given the very scary and traumatizing exposure that Amy, who, as Amethyst is only physically<\/em> an adult, has to adult sexuality.
To say nothing of what gets dumped on her in terms of adult responsibilities. Growing up is hard enough on its own, but it has to be that much worse when doing so brings with it the burden of freeing an entire world from a brutal dictatorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll talk more about this in subsequent reviews \u2013 particularly when I get into some of the more whimsical aspects of Gemworld \u2013 but I will say that, as a kid, I really didn\u2019t dig Ernie Col\u00f3n\u2019s style, and it was something that I only developed an appreciation for in later years. I didn\u2019t hate it, but\u2026well, he was no George Perez or Mike Grell, and they were pretty much the gold standards for me as far as comic book art went in those days.
Prior to his work for DC, Col\u00f3n spent years working at Harvey Comics<\/strong>, providing uncredited artwork on Richie Rich<\/em> and Casper, the Friendly Ghost<\/em>.
Looking at his work on Amethyst now, I find myself slightly surprised by the fact that this wasn\u2019t apparent to me back then, as I can immediately visualize images from those comics that demonstrated Col\u00f3n\u2019s distinctive style, and I\u2019m much, much further removed from having read any Harvey titles now than I was then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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